Concurrent Resolution on the Budget for Fiscal Year 2009

Floor Speech

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Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of the CBC FY09 alternative budget. I'm particularly excited today, because last night the Second Chance Act of 2007, a bipartisan piece of legislation, unanimously passed the Senate. I look forward to President Bush signing the legislation and the appropriation of money in DOJ to fund vital programs which the bill promotes.

Indeed, currently, the Administration FY09 budget proposes to: Merge 30 grant programs under State and Local Law Enforcement Assistance for a reduction in funding of $1.008 billion; collapse 14 Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) for a reduction in funding of $587.2 million; consolidate Weed and Seed programs for a reduction in funding of $32.1 million; collapse 7 juvenile justice grants into 1 grant program for a reduction in funding of $198.5 million; and lastly, merge current formula and discretionary grant programs into 1 program for a reduction in funding of $120 million, for an overall collapse of 70 DOJ programs into 5 programs and a reduction in funding totaling $1.5 billion.

These cuts come as America's prisons reach an alltime high and State incarceration costs are bursting at the seams. According to the latest study, between 1987 and 2007, States spent more than double on corrections (+127 percent) while higher education spending has been moderate (+21 percent).

It's with this in mind that I categorically support CBC's proposed budget, which includes $4 billion dollars to these vital DOJ programs. The CBC has made tough choices, established right priorities while exercising fiscal and moral responsibility to reduce recidivism and State incarceration costs.

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